Multi-published fiction author offers ideas and insights for readers and writers. Drop in for some warm, sometimes even witty observations on life and language and gratitude for the creative life. Please also visit my web site: www.susanaylworth.com. Welcome!

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Monday, November 11, 2013

A Nod to Fine Authors: Part Two

My last blog post looked at new authors I’ve discovered from
reading e-books on my Kindle. I mentioned three, ending with the well-known
author of PAY IT FORWARD, Catherine Ryan Hyde, who was new to me. I’d like to
start with her again.

Catherine
Ryan Hyde

As I
mentioned before, I discovered Hyde when I read her book, WHEN YOU WERE OLDER.
The day after losing his job and many of his coworkers in the collapse of the
Twin Towers, Russell awakens to learn his mother has just passed on and he has
inherited the care of his brain-injured brother, Ben. Although chronologically
older, Ben is now much like a child and Russell must help him learn to live
again. It’s both painfully raw and touchingly tender.

Having read (and thoroughly enjoyed) that first Hyde book, I
picked up another. The title tells the story. SECOND-HAND HEART is indeed about
a transplant and fans of RETURN TO ME will enjoy it, but it has some unexpected
elements—and developments—that make it well worth reading. Most recently I read
Hyde’s DON’T LET ME GO, a touching discussion of fear, courage, and the
transformative power of a child. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Michaelene
McElroy

When I saw
the title, THE LAST SUPPER CATERING COMPANY, I wondered if I’d be comfortable
with the story, but I downloaded it anyway. The fresh, appealing voice caught
me within seconds and the quirky, I’ve-never-read-anything-like-it plot kept me
fascinated. This is an odd book, but it’s a nice kind of odd. I enjoyed it
thoroughly.

Tracey
Garvis-Graves

Ms. Graves
debut novel, ON THE ISLAND, was a well-I-can-try-it experiment for me. Wow. I
just recently reread the whole thing, start to finish—something I don’t do
often since there are so many great books and so little time. This one swept me
away.

Anna is 30
years old when the charter plane carrying her and 16-year-old T.J., the high
school student she has been hired to teach over the summer, is downed in the
Indian Ocean. They make it to a tiny, uninhabited island in the Indonesian
archipelago as student and teacher. Three and a half years later, when helpers
are rescuing survivors from the great tsunami of 2004, their relationship has
changed. How did they survive on the island? And how will their tender new
relationship survive when they return to the civilized world?

Don’t read
this one if you’re squeamish, but if “painfully raw and touchingly tender” are
your style, you’ll love it just as I did. Enjoy!

These are just a few of the many fine authors you can read on Kindle, Nook, I-Phones, computers and other mobile devices. If you are committed to paper-only reading, I'm sympathetic; there is nothing like turning the pages of a book. Yet these are inexpensive reads you can enjoy without getting a cramp in your forearm. Think about it, anyway. :-)

Susan Aylworth is the author of 11 published novels now available for ebook readers. A 12th is scheduled for publication in June 2014. She lives in northern California with her husband of 43 years, a devoted old dog and two quirky cats. Her 22nd and 23rd grandchildren are expected next spring. She loves to hear from readers. Find her at www.susanaylworth.com (sign up for the newsletter too), susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com or @SusanAylworth.